1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for achieving a cooperative intention of clients to avoid a crash when, for example, they try to avoid a crash against each other while they are driving different cars on a two-way road, and more specifically to an intention achievement information processing apparatus operated using a software architecture for achieving the intention.
2. Description of the Related Art
An intention can be an independent, cooperative, or conflicting intention. An independent intention refers to an intention which can be achieved independently of other people""s intentions, in such a case that animation films can be produced by integrating images, voice, etc. generated using, for example, computer graphics technology.
A cooperative intention refers to an intention which can be achieved by people cooperating with each other, in such a case that two drivers are driving different cars in opposite directions with intentions to avoid a crash with each other. On the other hand, conflicting intentions refer to an intention of a bird flying in the sky to catch and eat a fish in the sea and an intention of the fish to swim away from the bird.
Producing animation films with the above described independent intentions has conventionally required intensive labor, a long time, and a large amount of resources. Therefore, it is quite difficult for a small amateur group to produce them. Under such circumstances, it is earnestly demanded to develop a user-friendly computer graphics production support system for easily producing realistic animation films.
A technology for realizing the above described system, which defines a model of an object network of data as a drawing object and various operations for the data, is disclosed by the official gazette Tokukai-hei 5-233690 (Language Processing System through an object network) and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,542.
Another information processing apparatus is disclosed by the official gazette Tokukai-hei 7-295929 (Interactive Information Processing Apparatus using the function of a common platform). The information processing apparatus is provided with a common platform as an interface having various windows for use in displaying an instruction and data from a user and displaying computer processed results through the object network.
Furthermore, the technology of realizing a system for easily developing a visible, interactive, and cooperative application using the above described object network and the common platform is disclosed in the official gazette Tokukai-hei 9-297684 (Information Processing Apparatus through an object network).
To easily draw realistic images in, for example, animation films, the intention of a person who is producing the films should be achieved by the computer. However, an intention of person, that is, what a person is thinking about, is complicated, and it requires labor intensive work to appropriately instruct the computer to achieve the intention.
The applicants carefully considered this and have already filed an application about an intention achievement information processing apparatus which uses computer architecture for easily realizing an intention of a user through a computer (Japanese Patent Application No. 10-016205, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/145,032 now abandoned.
However, there is room for improvement in the above described application.
The present invention aims at providing an intention achievement information processing apparatus which uses computer architecture for easily realizing an intention of a user through a computer, an intention achievement information process concurrent operation system, an intention achievement information processing method, and a computer-readable storage medium storing an intention achievement information processing program.
The intention achievement information processing apparatus includes a target area definition unit, an operable structure definition unit, a support structure definition unit, a strategy/tactics definition unit, and a process execution unit.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the target area definition unit defines the attribute of the target area of the intention of a client. The operable structure definition unit defines an operable structure of the target area whose attribute is defined relating to the above described intention. The support structure definition unit defines a support function for realizing the above described intention. The strategy/tactics definition unit determines and defines the strategy and tactics for realizing the above described intention using the defined operable structure and support function. The process execution unit performs a concrete process for realizing the intention of the client based on the determined and defined strategy and tactics.